Argentine submarine suffered leak shortly before going missing

Two US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft have joined the search for the Argentine submarine, ARA "San Juan", which has been missing since November 15 along with its 44 crew members, AFP reported.

A loud bang was heard by Navy staff monitoring the ship, which they claim could have been the vessel imploding.

Officials say before the vessel went missing it had been ordered back to the dock after water entered the submarine, resulting in a battery short circuit.

Norwegian offshore supply ship Sophie Siem carrying a U.S. mini-submarine has begun searches for Argentina's missing San Juan submarine at 17:00 GMT, a senior official of the Comodoro Rivadavia port told Sputnik on Sunday.

"They had to electrically isolate the battery and continue sailing underwater to Mar del Plata using another battery circuit", Balbi said.

The global search effort includes about 30 ships and planes manned by 4,000 personnel from 13 countries including Brazil, Chile and Great Britain.

The submarine's last known location was off the coast of southern Argentina, near Puerto Madryn, where the navy was conducting a training exercise.